Our Favorite Resources
Data Analysis
What it is: Karen's team provides emails, blogs, and training on practical yet robust statistical concepts.
Why do we like it?
"Stats courses tend to miss the collections of nuggets The Analysis Factor provides." - Debbie Miller, Data Specialist
Andy Field's Statistics/Data Analysis
What it is: An open access resource which aims to help folx overcome statistics anxiety and become--at the very least--competent quantitative data analysts.
Why do we like it?
"It is really helpful in introducing the fundamental concepts of statistics as well as offering free tools and tutorials for playing around with data analysis." - Haden Botkin, Graduate Intern
What it is: an online portal for leading industry resources for business-to-business data professionals and technology. It offers news and analysis related to the computer and data processing industries.
Why do we like it?
It provides a bunch of information about data trends, big data, data center, AI, and open sources.
"Surfing on this webpage is enjoyable because it provides all in one of up-to-date information on emerging trends in data collections, recommends suitable tools to use, and offers information on data analytics tools that can be used for tasks ranging from data visualization to data integration." - Ni Ketut Wilmayani (Wilma), Graduate Intern.
What it is: a web-based statistics software for data analysis and a “warehouse” of instructional materials on how to analyze data using different statistical methods.
Why do we like it?
It’s a user-friendly platform with extensive tutorials on how to conduct different statistical tests and analysis.
What it is: Pajek is a software program designed for the analysis and visualization of large networks.
Why do we like it?
It is particularly well-suited for handling very large datasets, such as social networks, biological networks, or citation networks, where traditional network analysis tools might struggle with the size and complexity.
Statalist is a forum where Stata users can ask questions, post tips/tricks, and overall help each other out with any problems or issues.
Why do we like it?
"Statalist has helped me at 3 in the morning when I am chomping at the bit to finish a final project and my code is not running correctly. I really appreciate the specific questions that users ask as this helps me find an answer to my problems a lot easier." - Sage Shadoan, Evaluation Project Associate
What it is: It’s a blog and series on statistics by Jim Frost “the data/stats guy” designed for those who want to learn “statistics at a deeply intuitive level”.
Why do we like it?
"It uses simple, everyday language, easy to grasp concepts and graphs to convey complex statistical theories." - Fatima Aigbomian, Graduate Intern
What it is: A collection of resources on statistical analyses, including versions for R, SAS, SPSS, Stata, and others.
Why do we like it?
"It is a great resource for tests and analyses you do not do often or when trying to learn a new stats package. The annotated output is so helpful, and I love the "which test do I use" page." - Alian Kasabian, Director
Data Collection
What it is: Qualtrics is a cloud-based platform that helps collect data through surveys for a variety of purposes, including research, market research, and academic research.
Why do we like it? It allows us allows us to design, distribute, and analyze surveys for various evaluation and research purposes.
"Honestly, Qualtrics is like having a Swiss Army knife for data collection. It’s flexible, intuitive, and makes capturing data almost too easy." - Anonymous staff member
Data Management
Datacamp Excel Formulas Cheat Sheet
What it is: Datacamp offers free downloadable cheat sheets that gives you list of Excel functions including operators, logical functions, conditional computation, and data manipulation. They also have guides for Excel keyboard shortcuts as well.
Why do we like it?
"It can be easy to forget the hundreds of Excel functions that you can use to easily work with large datasets. This guide allows you to find the function you need quickly." - Brittany Bearss, Graduate Intern
Data Visualization
Adobe Illustrator and Indesign
What it is: A vector graphics editor and design software.
Why do we like it?
Adobe Illustrator can be a powerful tool for creating custom data visualizations, offering precision and flexibility that go beyond standard charting software.
What it is: Coolors.co is a 5-color palette generator (though I have ways of making it work for larger palettes).
Why do we like it?
It allows you to keep colors you like while generating more random combinations as well as tweak the colors you do get with a variety of slider sets, test your palette with color-blindness filters, and see what your palette might look like with its new "Visualize colors" function.
What it is: Encycolorpedia is a website that lists hexcode numbers for colors as well as allows you to find colors that fit together to form a cohesive theme, are far enough apart to show separation on graphs, etc.
Why do we like it?
"Encycolorpedia is a great resource when you need a set number of colors for a data visualization but need help getting the hex codes and picking adjacent colors. As I am often working in R having the hex code values helps immensely." - London Wolff, Graduate Intern
What it is: A website that allows you to upload a picture to create color palettes.
Why do we like it?
Can be helpful when looking for new color palettes and/or trying to figure out an exact HEX or RBG code.
What it is: A tool that allows the user to create color gradients using one or two colors.
Why do we like it?
"I've taken to using this tool to generate one-color gradients for our charts (generally unipolar Likert scales) that require more than 6 colors or when Microsoft decides the lighter colors in the gradient should be far more vivid than the base color would otherwise indicate (such as the main blue that is a primary brand color for the Nebraska DHHS)." - Jacque Barmore, Evaluation Project Associate
What it is: This is brand new color-generator to the office, but I've already used it a couple of times, especially using the tetrad function.
Why do we like it?
This color generator is more overtly reliant on color theory and allows you to dictate how the generated colors will be related to your base color. It also has visualization tools, allows you to generate color sets that are similar but not the same, check for color blindness/accessibility issues, and export your colors.
What it is: A blog dedicated to data visualization from Stephanie Evergreen. She includes how-tos and ideas. Additionally, she generates chart choosers for both qualitative and quantitative data!
Why do we like it?
While Stephanie has workshops and books for sale, the blog provides access to some of her tips and tricks for free! Additionally, she provides instructions for how to wrangle everyday programs, like Microsoft Excel, to make enhanced visualizations.
Evaluation Methods
Better Evaluation - Methods and Approaches
What it is: recognizing that all programs/projects require a specific and unique evaluation method(s), this is a resource offering insights, tips, tricks, etc. for almost every kind of evaluation approach imaginable - everything from the Delphi technique to theatre-as-evaluation.
The Community Toolbox from the University of Kansas
What it is: a vast collection of resources on community development, including how to do needs assessments and evaluating initiatives.
RHIhub (Rural Health Information Hub)
What it is: A toolkit that "identifies evidence-based and promising models and resources that will benefit rural communities seeking to implement services integration programs."
Why do we like it?
This toolkit is comprised of several evidenced-based resource modules, including programming, implementation, sustainability, evaluation, and dissemination.
Other Resources
What it is: Connected Papers is a non-traditional citation explorer that uses machine learning to identify similar papers. You provide a topic or a paper title, and it provides a visual network of papers connected via similarities of co-occurring citations so the stronger the tie between papers, the more likely the papers are similar.
Why do we like it?
"Connected papers helps me identify useful papers that are similar to ones I am interested in. It also helps me ensure I have not overlooked key papers in a field. It's a must for writing literature reviews in any capacity." - Makena Nail, Graduate Intern
"Connected Papers has helped me time and time again find papers within a very specific niche field. Rather than spending hours scouring Google Scholar or JStor, I can use Connected Papers to find the closest related papers to my topic." - Sage Shadoan, Evaluation Project Associate
What it is: Citation style guides for both APA and MLA formats.
Why do we like it?
It provides at your fingers guidance for citation styling with examples.
University of Michigan's Mixed Method Reserach Site
What it is: an online source for collection of mixed method video, journal publishing mixed methods papers, mixed method research protocol papers, and mixed method books.
Why do we like it?
It provides various potential collections for mixed methods (both quantitative and qualitative) research sources. For those who are interested in mixed method research, this website may be useful.